By the time this column is published, the delegates of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would have chosen their leader in yesterday’s election, which saw MP Audley Shaw challenging Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness. At the time of writing (last Friday), emotions are running high as leading lights in the party declare their preference.

Now that the dust is settling, how will the party remind Jamaica that they are, in name and nature, “Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition”? I use the word “party” because regardless of who has been chosen, his first priority must be to unify the JLP. The victor and the vanquished should be joining their considerable talents and experience to reassure the Jamaican people that ours will remain a strong democracy. That strength depends on the quality of choice that a people have in choosing their Government.

Whatever one may want to say about the race, the communication machinery for both candidates was revved up, giving the JLP more presence than we had seen for a long time. They should try to preserve this engagement, and widen it to give a national flavour to the very issues they were citing in their exciting game of one-upmanship. They could also take a few lessons from the PNP who, whatever their faults may be, know how to keep their arguments ‘in the family’, and so preserve a united front. They too have had their party leader elections, but never have we heard the level of mud-slinging that has taken place over the past few weeks.

Kudos to party Chairman Senator Robert Montague for taking the higher ground. He has come across as a sober and dignified leader.

Now comes the race to win the hearts of Jamaicans. The political party that can convince us that they are on the ground, connecting with the most urgent of needs, responding in a timely manner, and showing a genuine heart for the upliftment of their people, will triumph in the next general election.

For the time being, both political parties are “coming up shaky”. When we consider that this tiny rock has over 60 members of parliament and over 200 parish councillors — all paid by the humblest Jamaican every time he/she buys phone credit or pays GCT — we have to wonder why we are not living in a paradise. I am appealing to my colleagues in the media to stop giving so much space to the ‘profilers’ and give more to the ‘producers’ in government. That government includes both JLP and PNP.

With the technology easily available and international partners willing to fund such projects, it beats me why we cannot introduce an evaluation system where we can effectively measure the productivity of parliamentarians, councillors and government workers and post it on a website. Then we would know who the headliners should be.

To the JLP leader — Andrew or Audley — we say: you fought hard for this post, so make it count, not only for your party but also for the Jamaican people.

Coming together for Caribbean seniors

I write this column from Barbados, where one of the country’s top seniors’ advocates, Ed Bushell, head of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP), has invited representatives of similar organisations in the region to collaborate on the way forward for our growing population of older persons. Having heard the staggering membership numbers for those organisations that are over 20 and 30 years old, I know that our three-year-old Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) Jamaica has a lot of listening and learning to do. BARP has over 37,000 members, while TTARP (Trinidad and Tobago) has over 27,000 members with a full-time secretariat.

According to 2011 population figures from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, we have an over-50 population of 503,300 persons. Jamaica is blessed with an active National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) chaired by the phenomenal Syringa Marshall-Burnett, but the growing number of elderly requires even more resources. There are also several active community-based seniors’ groups and national pensioners’ groups. Our challenge is to harmonise the Jamaica seniors’ network. Our united voices are needed now more than ever.

Jamaica adopted a National Policy for Senior Citizens in March 1997 with the strong advocacy of then NCSC Chair and current CCRP Jamaica Chair Professor Denise Eldemire-Shearer, noting the recommendations of several international conferences since 1990. Let us respect the principles on which the policy is based:

1. Individuality: Acknowledge the diversity in our population of older persons.

2. Independence: Help older persons maintain a maximum degree of independent living.

3. Choice: Ensure they participate in decisions affecting their lives.

4. Accessibility: No discrimination in availability of services.

5. Role changes: Special needs based on role changes commonly seen in later years.

6. Productive ageing: All seniors should be able to live socially and economically productive lives.

7. Family Care: Home is the best place for older persons; institutional care should be a last resort.

8. Dignity: Senior citizens are entitled to receive services and benefits so as to maintain human dignity.

This column shared the cries of some of Jamaica’s elderly from a conference held to mark the International Day for Older Persons on October 1. The disrespect and neglect of our elderly is a direct result of the breakdown of family life. While we applaud Government for adopting this policy for older persons, we must now ask them to collaborate with our church groups to develop a policy to promote wholesome family life. This will help to protect our elderly and reap rewards of social and economic well-being.

Alpha reunion of love and laughter

Alpha alumnae from the late sixties and some good-humoured husbands gathered in Fort Lauderdale last week to recall our exciting high school days. We were the ones who had gloried in our newly independent Jamaica, with the legendary Sister Mary Bernadette Little as our principal. Her leadership inspired us to strive for excellence and serve others.

Organisers Patsy Lee Yee and Hope Chin Kerr went high-tech, complete with website, Paypal account, and live streaming of the events for those who could not attend. The most moving moment came when they connected a surprise video link from the reunion picnic to our guiding star of the sixties. There were tears of joy as ‘Sister B’ pronounced her blessing over her ‘girls’ from her home in Jamaica. Reunions are exhilarating. Make the effort to attend yours.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com